Tuesday, September 9, 2003

T U E S D A Y SEPTEMBER 9, 2003

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD Volume CXXXVIII, No. 67

An independent newspaper serving the Brown community since 1891

Housing crunch leaves students in converted kitchens, slows waitlist to crawl

Thayer Street Improvement District already a success

BY DANA GOLDSTEIN

New Thayer Street businesses are already feeling the effects of the Thayer Street Improvement District, the recently implemented partnership between Brown, the City of Providence and Thayer Street store owners and landlords that could improve the street’s atmosphere.

Richard Weis, manager of Bagel Gourmet, located at 250 Brook St., said he will participate in a variety of improvements to enhance his store’s new Thayer Street location and the entire street. The new shop, Bagel Gourmet Olé, is expected to open next month where Ronzio Pizza was previously located, Weis said.

Bagel Gourmet’s Brook Street location opened in 1996, but only after the owners failed to procure a Thayer Street storefront, Weis said. The operation now needs a larger space to accommodate its bagel baking operation, which requires 200 square feet, he said.

As a new Thayer Street tenant, Bagel Gourmet Olé is participating in the district’s facelift by partnering with Steve Lewinstein, chairman of the TSID. Lewinstein, co-owner of Capstone Properties, owns five Thayer Street buildings.

“We’re really trying to improve the street but still retain (its) character,” Lewinstein said.

Capstone Properties also manages the empty storefront on the corner of Thayer and Cushing streets where Clarke Flowers was located until fall of 2002.

Jane Long of Capstone Properties said she has received between 200 and 300 inquiries about the space since the beginning of 2003. Many of these inquiries were from food service establishments, but the shop is not zoned for food, which Weis found out when he inquired about possible locations for Bagel Gourmet Olé.

In keeping with the principles of the revitalization partnership, Lewinstein was determined to lease the space to a “specialty retailer,” not just another pizza place or national chain.

“You want the uniqueness of the boutique-type stores and the character they bring to the street,” he said. “But by the same token, you need the large tenants to bring the traffic in. If you have an allnational street, you lose the character that keeps it interesting and keeps the students shopping.”

At one point, a business owner with a store in New York’s SoHo neighborhood entered into the deal-making stage with Capstone, but the venture fell through, Long said. Currently, Capstone has a letter of intent from a “speciality fashion retailer” with several stores in New England.

“We were really holding out for the right business and we feel we have found that now,” Long said.

The former flower shop has undersee THAYER ST., page 5

BY DANIELLE CERNY

that you can read in the classroom and go to these places and read as well.”

Muth’s specific site location served 80 kids and was run by eight teachers, one site coordinator and two AmeriCorps volunteers. The 10-to-one ratio generated a lot of learning but there were still discipline problems, Muth said.

Low parental involvement was another obstacle for Muth and his peers. Only around 20 percent of the children’s parents showed up on Parents Day and only 20 of the 1,200 students had parents attend the camp’s seminar.

While many parents were uninterested in learning about the camp, Muth said others simply could not take the

Despite a housing surplus last semester, this academic year has brought a shortage in on-campus housing, slowing waitlist processing to a virtual standstill and leaving some students living in converted kitchens and other makeshift rooms.

Fall waitlist applications became available Friday, but Acting Director of Residential Life Katherine Tameo said, “We have no vacancies that we can offer people.”

The housing crunch was caused by ResLife’s conservative approach to granting off-campus housing this year, in addition to the rising costs of living off-campus, said Jesse Goodman ’04, chairman of Residential Council.

Last year, too many students were granted off-campus permission, and the campus was left with vacant rooms.

“You have to plan to be at either exactly 100 percent … or higher in order to make the financial part of the housing office work,” said Dean for Campus Life Margaret Jablonski. This year Brown wanted to fill all 4,642 spaces in the regular housing inventory that are available for students, Jablonski said.

To remedy the shortage, ResLife temporarily altered several rooms on campus to hold more students than they were originally designed to house. Twenty-five of these converted spaces are still in use, Jablonski said.

As of Friday, the 10 converted triples in Perkins have been turned back into doubles. The converted kitchen spaces in New Dorm have also been turned back into kitchens, Tameo said.

These changes were made possible when approximately 35 students unexpectedly did not return to Brown this

see PROFILE, page 5

see LISCI, page 4

Josh Apte / Herald

Classes evacuated MacMillan Hall on Monday morning when a rogue sprinkler tripped the building’s fire alarm. Facilities Management removed the sprinkler head from MacMillan and staff members are investigating the cause of the malfunction.

SUMMER STORIES: A CONTINUING SERIES

Muth ’05 tutors children in Baltimore’s inner city

BY MELISSA PERLMAN

It’s hard to teach kids when they’re fighting you every step of the way.

But Gilad Muth ’05 did this — and more — as a tutor for children in innercity Baltimore this summer.

“It was an intense experience,” he said. “It was a challenge because (the children) fight you a lot. You butt heads with them so you have to figure out creative ways to get them to enjoy reading.”

Muth and six other Brown students spent seven weeks working at the Baltimore-based program, SuperKids, helping fourth and fifth graders improve their reading and comprehension skills.

The children, all of whom were from underprivileged families, were recommended by their schools to participate in the program after finishing in the 23rd to 50th percentiles of their classes.

The program targeted those kids in danger of falling behind during the summer months, Muth said.

SuperKids has three major components: Summer Success Reading, the 100 Book Challenge and Literacy Links.

Summer Success Reading started off each day with 90 minutes of reading tutorial.

The 100 Book Challenge pushed students to read as much as they could at home by rewarding and recognizing the top readers. Each 15-minute block of time spent reading equaled one book.

The final area, Literacy Links, organized field trips around the city of Baltimore to places such as the zoo, downtown sailing center, science center and Port Discovery. A lot of the destinations involved reading signs, pamphlets and other objects, Muth said.

“We were giving them the experience of reading,” he said. “We showed them

Gas leak temporarily closes Bio-Med A gas leak at the Life Sciences building site on Meeting Street forced the evacuation of the Bio-Med building Friday morning.

Some gas escaped as workers were “realigning gas lines in preparation for gas work,” according to Mark Nickel, director of the Brown News Service.

The scent of the escaped gas was pulled into nearby Bio-Med’s ventilation system. The building’s air management system is outside the building on its Meeting Street side, next to the Life Sciences construction site, according to Nickel.

“Anytime there’s a smell of gas it’s good sense and good operating procedure to evacuate the building,” Nickel said.

I N S I D E T U E S D AY, S E P T E M B E R 9 , 2 0 0 3 Fox Point residents complain of student disrespect, including urinating on property metro,page 3

Despite breaking ground, neighborhood is still concerned about LiSci construction metro,page 3

www.browndailyherald.com

To avoid doom, Bush needs foreign help with Iraq, says Charles Finocchiaro ’05 guest column, page 7

The evacuation interrupted several classes, which were cancelled or moved as Brown Facilities Management and the Providence Fire Department investigated the situation, Nickel said.

Investigators determined Bio-Med’s research-oriented air management system picked up the odor of the escaped gas, but no gas actually entered the building.

The building re-opened on Friday afternoon. Similar problems are unlikely to occur during the continuing construction, Nickel said.

“I think this was a one-time (occurrence) owing to the work that was being done outside,” he said.

—Dana Goldstein

TO D AY ’ S F O R E C A S T Rugby goes 1 for 3 in first set of matches of the season with more rookie assistance sports, page 8

Bashing his own team works for Yankees owner Steinbrenner, says Jon Meachin ’04 sports column, page 8

sunny high 70 low 49

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

THIS MORNING TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 9, 2003 · PAGE 2 Coup de Grace Grace Farris

W E AT H E R TUESDAY

High 70 Low 49 sunny

WEDNESDAY

THURSDAY

High 73 Low 55 partly cloudy

High 75 Low 54 partly cloudy

FRIDAY

High 73 Low 55 partly cloudy

GRAPHICS BY TED WU

Three Words Eddie Ahn

MENU THE RATTY LUNCH — Vegetarian Onion Soup, Minestrone Soup, Chicken Fingers, Vegan Rice & Beans, Chinese Green Beans, Swiss Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookies, Yellow Cake with White Icing, Maine Blueberry Pie

V-DUB LUNCH — Vegetarian Lentil Soup, Chicken Noodle Soup, Chinese Chicken Wings, Broccoli Quiche, Mandarin Blend Vegetables, Swiss Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookies

DINNER — Vegetarian Onion Soup, Minestrone Soup, Pork Loin with Green Apple Stuffing, Chicken with Raisins and Olives, Tomato Quiche, Wild and White Rice Pilaf, Stir Fry Carrots with Lemon and Dill, Brussels Sprouts, Herb Bread, Swiss Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookies, Yellow Cake with White Icing, Maine Blueberry Pie

DINNER — Vegetarian Lentil Soup, Chicken Noodle Soup, Roast Beef au Jus, Vegan California Stew, Red Rice, Green Peas, Cauliflower in Dill Mustard Sauce, Herb Bread, Maine Blueberry Pie

Greg and Todd’s Awesome Comic Greg Shilling and Todd Goldstein

CROSSWORD ACROSS 1 Old-time boxer Max 5 Tell all 9 Argentine plain 14 Humerus neighbor 15 Seaweed, e.g.

16 Regions 17 Tarzan’s outfit 19 Like Disneyland at night 20 Swimmers’ safety precaution 22 Bullring cheer 23 Smidgen 24 1924 G.B. Shaw play 26 Tribal leader 30 Maker of the game Asteroids 32 Natural skin soother 33 Prefix with European 35 Maternally related 39 Healthy look 42 Insect stage 43 Pedro’s “Positively!”

44 Conjunction for Descartes 45 German steel city 47 Feudal servant 49 “Ready when you are!”

52 Bandleader Brown 53 Conk out 54 ’40s-’50s blues pioneer 61 Saudi’s neighbor 63 “Medea” playwright 64 Attack on all sides 65 Ogle 66 Carefully arranged 67 Perfumer Lauder 68 More 69 Finishes DOWN 1 Lamp insert 2 Baseball family name 3 Oklahoma city 4 Mapmaker __ McNally

5 Vinegar type 6 Bridges of “Airplane!”

7 FBI employees 8 Thai currency 9 Coconut producer 10 Jackie’s second 11 “Ditto” 12 Songstress Abdul 13 Colorado resort town 18 Cell: Suffix 21 Mexican’s “that” 25 Brings bad luck to 26 Draped apparel 27 College grad 28 Musical ending 29 Property borders, at times 30 Mgmt.

31 Peaks 34 Carrot on a snowman, perhaps 36 Pretension 37 Forum garb 38 Carbon compound 40 Park north of Fresno 1

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My Best Effort Andy Hull and William Newman

ANSWER TO PREVIOUS PUZZLE: J O W L

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55 “Remove,” in a manuscript 56 It may begin with a slap in the face 57 Fork part 58 Paradise 59 Relax with a good book 60 Fast fliers, for short 62 Wedding page word

41 Electrician’s concern 46 Apt name for a cook?

48 “Hurry up,” on memos 49 Pueblo material 50 Gimlet garnishes 51 Part of LCD 52 Harplike instruments

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By Michael Vuolo (c)2003 Tribune Media Services, Inc.

would you like a ride on my mustache?

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THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

METRO TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 9, 2003 · PAGE 3

Neighborhood feeling the effects of new Life Sciences construction

BY SAMUEL CULVER

More than one month after construction began of the Life Sciences building, neighborhood residents are feeling the effects of the project, including traffic congestion, parking problems and increased noise.

“The neighborhood does have severe concerns of traffic congestion, blasting and pollution,” said Thomas Goddard, president of the College Hill Neighborhood Association. The construction has closed portions of Olive Street between Brown and Thayer streets indefinitely.

Mark Nickel, director of the Brown News Service, confirmed the University has received complaints recently from residents regarding traffic, noise and congestion. But those problems are common to any construction project and are not specific to the Life Sciences site, Nickel said. “(The University is) ruining the entire East Side. Real estate values are falling, and it’s a real inconvenience,” said neighborhood resident Virginia Riggs.

CHNA, comprised of about 400 families in the College Hill area, meets at least once a month to discuss issues facing the neighborhood. The group addressed its concerns in a letter to University trustees in February. The association asked Brown to reconsider the location of the building and mentioned the possibility of a site at Rhode Island Hospital.

Putting the Life Sciences building further downtown would allow the University to better incorporate itself into the community, Goddard said.

“The project will meet the needs of the University for now, but they will continue to chop away at the surrounding neighborhoods without respect for the com-

Urination, noise top the list of complaints at Fox Point forum

BY ZOE RIPPLE AND ELLEN WERNECKE

Sara Perkins / Herald

The Life Sciences Building, which was supposed to begin in 2002 and was delayed largely because of residents’ complaints, is due for completion in 2005. munity,” he said. “Real estate values have the potential to fall, and I know of families looking to move because of this project.”

Residents are still concerned about the building’s impact on their neighborhood despite University studies claiming there is no danger associated with the building.

Brown released a study last spring stating that the new building could release up to 6,000 pounds of toxic chemicals a year and that the structure would not comply with neighborhood noise ordinances.

Brown administration, however, later revised the statement and cut the total emissions of toxic chemicals to 1,500 pounds a year and reconfigured aspects

of the building to deal with noise issues.

The CHNA’s Web site claims the total amount of toxic emissions from the BioMed and Life Sciences buildings could exceed 10,000 pounds a year.

Discussion of the Life Sciences building dominates CHNA meetings, Goddard said. The members say if they had better dialogue with the school, controversies like the Life Sciences building would not arise, he said.

“Brown doesn’t understand entirely what we have to say, but we really haven’t heard from the students,” Goddard said.

He said members of the community wish

Complaining of noise violations and vandalism — like urinating on property and walking on top of cars — community members demanded accountability from Brown students, undergraduate tenants and their landlords at a Monday night meeting sponsored by the Fox Point Citizens Association.

East Side residents called upon Brown’s administration, Brown’s Department of Public Safety and the Providence Police to enforce consequences for neighborhood disturbances.

Residents also complained of students gathering in large groups on streets in the Fox Point neighborhood.

John Roney, FPCA president, characterized the Williams Street area where a recent party led to urinating on property and walking on top of cars as “an extraordinarily pressing and long-standing problem.”

Although they conceded University students often had positive interactions with their neighbors in the past, members said those relations soured and the University has done nothing to prepare students for off-campus living.

“There was unacceptable and illegal behavior on Williams Street,” said area resident Ann Hersch.

Evelyn Lincoln, associate professor of history of art and architecture and a resident of the East Side, stated similar concerns and suggested a neighborhood patrol to “discipline bands of kids.”

Lincoln later said drawing officers away from more pressing issues throughout the city because of increased police presence on the East Side was a concern.

see LIFE SCIENCES, page 5 see FPCA, page 5

PAGE 4 THE BROWN DAILY HERALD TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 9, 2003

Selig continued from page 8 are proving that $185 million won’t buy you even peace of mind.

Throw in the All-Star Game innovation, another idea at which most scoffed, and you have easily the best year of Selig’s run. (Don’t throw in the Brewers. With his ownership stake in a trust, he insists he has less to do with them than most other clubs.)

We are talking, after all, about a man who testified in Congress and had to be reminded that he was under oath; a man who canceled the 1994 World Series; who spent so many years denigrating his own game, even calling Billy Beane’s Oakland Athletics “an aberration.”

But maybe all of that was necessary in order to get last year’s CBA. Maybe this year is just the fruit of Selig’s suffering, and our suffering from his previous leadership.

“A lot of people will look over the economy and say that a leader is having a good year when things are going well and a bad year when things aren’t going well, whether or not you are,” Fehr said. “It seems to me that they are pretty silly.”

Accusations of silliness don’t faze us, though. “The last weeks should be spectacular,” Selig said, and we agree.

The Yankees should consider themselves fortunate that Manny Ramirez entered free agency after the 2000 season. Back then, fresh off a third straight World Series title, George Steinbrenner actually listened to his front office and Joe Torre when making personnel decisions.

Some members of the front office had reservations about Ramirez’s character, and Torre expressed his preference for Mike Mussina over Ramirez. So the Red Sox, not the Yankees, invested $160 million in a player who was healthy enough to spend time with Enrique Wilson in a hotel lobby but not to play an entire weekend series against a division rival.

Of course, it wouldn’t surprise us at all if, down the road, The Boss goes after Ramirez’s explosive bat and awful personality.

We’re sorry for the Tigers’ Mike Maroth that he lost his 20th game Friday night, but there’s one huge benefit for the rest of us: We’ll never have to read about Brian Kingman again.

Kingman was the last pitcher to lose 20 games (8-20 for the 83-79 Oakland Athletics in 1980), and he milked every ounce of publicity he could over such failure. He attended Friday’s Tigers game in Toronto, carrying a voodoo doll,

with the hope of “jinxing” Maroth and keeping his name alive.

Kingman has done this often in recent years when pitchers approached the 20-loss mark. It’s one thing to be a good sport about an embarrassing statistic. It’s another to design your life around it. Hopefully, Maroth will conduct himself with more dignity than Kingman.

Former Yankees bust Rondell White could wind up back east next year, but only if the Phillies don’t collapse. Combustible Phillies Manager Larry Bowa has told people how much he likes White, an impending free agent.

But Bowa also could find himself a free agent if he can’t steer his club to the NL wild card.

The best September call-up story, besides Yankees beloved veteran Luis Sojo, might be Aaron Miles of the White Sox. The 26year-old infielder is listed as 5-8 but, like most professional athletes, isn’t as tall as his listed height. This marked his ninth year in the minors before getting the call Tuesday. ... Fine idea by the Mets to make September “fan appreciation month.” Really, they should make 2004 “fan appreciation year.” After two straight lastplace seasons, with an expected plummet in their payroll, they should freeze their current prices for tickets and concessions.

LiSci continued from page 1 semester, Jablonski said.

Goodman said more spaces also opened up when ResLife granted additional off-campus permission to students after detecting the housing shortage early this semester.

On-campus occupancy is about 3 percent lower in the spring, due to students who withdraw or study abroad.

Until then, students looking to switch rooms are going to face a slow process, Jablonski said.

ResLife intends to fine tune and maintain its new housing system. “We now have a model that we developed that works with the numbers. There is always fluctuation in the number of students, especially in August, so we’ve been able to work with that and successfully open with all of our rooms full,” Tameo said.

Herald senior staff writer Danielle Cerny ’06 can be reached at dcerny@browndailyherald.com.

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TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 9, 2003 THE BROWN DAILY HERALD PAGE 5

Housing

Profile

Thayer St.

continued from page 3

continued from page 1

continued from page 1

there were more direct lines of communication with the student body, not just the administration.

CHNA has lingering doubts over the contributions this building will make to the neighborhood, Goddard said, and with Brown growing as quickly as ever, the crowded conditions on College Hill will continue to be a problem.

“We all stand to suffer from this poor choice,” Goddard said.

The project, which was supposed to begin in 2002 and was delayed largely because of residents’ complaints, is due for completion in 2005.

time off work.

Muth said he learned a lot from his experience with SuperKids, but, going into the program, he thought he would accomplish a lot more than he actually did.

“As much as we’re trying to change the world, the truth of the matter is that you’re not going to,” he said. “You might only help the kids from falling back.”

gone some changes.

Lewinstein hired an architect to redesign the space, and the overall vision is for the new shop to “stand alone” from the other stores in its building, Long explained. The space has already been transformed with glass paneling on the Thayer Street side.

The new TSID was a “huge selling point” for Capstone as they sought to find the right business for the property, Long said.

“It makes it easier to rent the space to quality tenants — especially the tenants that are coming in from out of state,” Lewinstein said. “They see the revitalization plans and the funds that are coming in and they get excited.”

FPCA continued from page 3 “You are seniors,” Lincoln said, addressing the tenants of one off-campus house. “You are the most privileged kids. Why are you treating us like crap?”

She described the students as “behaving awfully.”

“I don’t think Brown students need to be policed,” she said. “I think you have the ability to police yourselves. It’s your neighborhood, too.”

Andre McGregor ’04, a member of the Campus Crime Committee and a resident of an off-campus house targeted with complaints during the meeting, told The Herald his neighbors’ criticisms were legitimate.

“At times we don’t think that there are neighbors around, that the community is just made up of Brown students,” McGregor said.

But he said neighborhood residents, students and the University should reach a middle ground that does not put the burden entirely on members of the Brown community.

That could come in the form of a welcoming committee or welcoming barbecue to put faces with buildings “so it’s not that we ignore the house that’s next door just because we never see anybody there.”

Off-campus resident Alexis Scott ’04.5 said many students are unaware of the privilege of moving into neighborhoods surrounding the University.

“There’s an unspoken transition of moving off campus,” she said. Scott also said the nature of student housing in the Fox Point area is a source of friction between students and their neighbors. “(Students) don’t have the opportunity to form lifelong relationships within their neighborhoods,” Scott said.

DPS Chief Paul Verrecchia acknowledged campus police officers “tended to cut students some slack” in terms of latenight behavior.

“Unfortunately, that policy translates into the neighborhoods, and it shouldn’t,” Verrecchia said. “When you call us, you’re not supposed to be told, ‘It’s the first week of school, what do you expect?’”

Deborah Dinerman, liaison for Community and Government Relations at the University, apologized for the students’ behavior

Herald staff writer Melissa Perlman ’04 can be reached at mperlman@browndailyherald.com.

“You are seniors. You are the most privileged kids. Why are you treating us like crap?”

Evelyn Lincoln Associate professor of History of Art and Architecture and a resident of the East Side

and acknowledged that community members were “frustrated and dissatisfied” with student conduct.

McGregor apologized and offered to work with community members to improve relations.

“Our first party was not as we expected it to be,” McGregor said, adding that the gathering was originally limited to participants of the Brown Outdoor Leadership Training program.

“Another party three blocks up got broken up, and suddenly 200 people showed up,” McGregor said.

McGregor said the police told him on their first visit to the house that the party would be allowed to continue if the volume was turned down.

“When (the police) came the second time, we immediately shut the party down,” McGregor said.

David Pontarelli, from the Mayor’s Office of Neighborhood Services, described limits to the current housing situation and the inability of East Side residents to get their complaints heard.

“We need to make the caller response system more userfriendly,” Pontarelli said. After residents complained of landlords not taking responsibility for their tenants, he said his office was coordinating a more substantive beat system with the Providence Police and reviewing the current system of fines for neighborhood violations.

“The landlord renting out to students doesn’t really care about a $150 fine,” Pontarelli said. “We’re going to continue fining the landlord, but we’re also going to start fining the tenants.”

Community members and students agreed to meet again on the issue of off-campus student housing before the November meeting of the FPCA.

Herald senior staff writer Dana Goldstein ’06 can be reached at dgoldstein@browndailyherald.com.

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

EDITORIAL/LETTERS TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 9, 2003 · PAGE 6 S T A F F

E D I T O R I A L

Pissed off Memo to Brown students upset about parties being broken up early: Stop peeing on lawns, you idiots!

Getting caught up in the collegial world is nearly unavoidable at such an insulated University. But it’s important for students to remember that our actions affect those around us — the other people who live and work in Providence. They don’t seem to relish hoards of drunken kids urinating in their yards or trampling over their cars. And, frankly, there’s no justification for it.

At last night’s meeting of the Fox Point Citizens Association, residents expressed their frustration with Brown students living off campus. They complained that students have little respect for the areas they inhabit or for their neighbors. In many cases, residents’ grievances are well-founded.

At the same time, locals have to realize that college students are always going to throw parties. Expecting any neighborhood with a large number of students to be a sedate urban enclave is unreasonable. To some extent, weekend activity comes with the territory.

Vandalism, however, does not. Brown students need to party off-campus without further damaging towngown relations by destroying residents’ property.

When even a handful of University students behave inappropriately, the rest get pegged as well.

Students throwing parties should make peace with neighbors first and take complaints seriously. When a neighbor is considerate enough to call and ask for music to be turned down — instead of calling the police — by all means, turn the music down.

Partying is fine. Acting like spoiled brats isn’t.

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD EDITORIAL Elena Lesley, Editor-in-Chief Brian Baskin, Executive Editor Zachary Frechette, Executive Editor Kerry Miller, Executive Editor Kavita Mishra, Senior Editor Rachel Aviv, Arts & Culture Editor Jen Sopchockchai, Asst. Arts & Culture Editor Carla Blumenkranz, Campus Watch Editor Juliette Wallack, Metro Editor Philissa Cramer, RISD News Editor Jonathan Skolnick, Opinions Editor Jonathan Meachin, Sports Editor Maggie Haskins, Sports Editor PRODUCTION Zachary Frechette, Chief Technology Officer Marc Debush, Copy Desk Chief Yafang Deng, Copy Desk Chief Grace Farris, Graphics Editor Andrew Sheets, Graphics Editor Sara Perkins, Photo Editor

BUSINESS Jamie Wolosky, General Manager Joe Laganas, Executive Manager Joshua Miller, Executive Manager Lawrence Hester, Senior Accounts Manager Bill Louis, Senior Accounts Manager Midori Asaka, National Accounts Manager David Zehngut, National Accounts Manager Anastasia Ali, Local Accounts Manager Elias Roman, Local Accounts Manager Peter Schermerhorn, Local Accounts Manager Jack Carrere, Noncomm Accounts Manager Laurie-Ann Paliotti, Sr. Advertising Rep. Elyse Major, Advertising Rep. Kate Sparaco, Office Manager P O S T- M A G A Z I N E Alex Carnevale, Editor-in-Chief Dan Poulson, Executive Editor Morgan Clendaniel, Senior Editor Theo Schell-Lambert, Senior Editor Doug Fretty, Film Editor Jason Ng, Music Editor Colin Hartnett, Design Editor

Michael Graves, Night Editor Marc Debush, Copy Editor Senior Staff Writers Zach Barter, Danielle Cerny, Dana Goldstein, Lisa Mandle, Monique Meneses, Joanne Park, Meryl Rothstein, Ellen Wernecke Staff Writers Kathy Babcock, Hannah Bascom, Carla Blumenkranz, Dylan Brown, Philissa Cramer, Ian Cropp, Bamboo Dong, Jonathan Ellis, Linda Evarts, Nicholas Foley, Joanna Grossman, Stephanie Harris, Shara Hegde, Akshay Krishnan, Hanyen Lee, Julian Leichty, Jamay Liu, Allison Lombardo, Jonathan Meachin, Crystal Z.Y. Ng, Sara Perkins, Melissa Perlman, Eric Perlmutter, Cassie Ramirez, Lily Rayman-Read, Zoe Ripple, Ethan Ris, Amy Ruddle, Emir Senturk, Jen Sopchockchai, Adam Stella, Adam Stern, Stefan Talman, Joshua Troy, Schuyler von Oeyen, Juliette Wallack, Jessica Weisberg, Ben Wiseman, Xiyun Yang, Brett Zarda, Julia Zuckerman Pagination Staff Joshua Gootzeit, Lisa Mandle, Alex Palmer, Amy Ruddle Photo Staff Nick Mark, Alex Palmer, Cassie Ramirez Copy Editors Emily Brill, George Haws, Katie Lamm

SHANE WILKERSON

LETTERS Conservatives, not Carnevale exaggerates liberals, are intolerant extent of intellectual of diversity indoctrination To the Editor:

To the Editor:

Re: “Squashing Intellectual Diversity” (Sept. 5) It’s typical for conservatives to accuse liberals of being stifling and dogmatic when they fail to understand that that is the very flaw that conservatism suffers from in the first place that draws so many converts to liberalism. If the columnist is uncomfortable in a liberal atmosphere of “bourgeois multiculturalism,” what does that say about his own acceptance of diversity? Conservatives often hide behind flowery rhetoric to make themselves appear like they support the poor or minorities while expressing extreme discontent with any institution that brings them face to face with them on a continual basis.

As for the Hitler reference, the columnist can mention his grandfather as a reason to never understand Hitler, but that argument has absolutely no merit: I lost half of my family to the Third Reich’s maniacal machinations, including death camps, and that is precisely the reason why we must understand people like Hitler and all of the extremely rational processes they use to secure power for themselves. That must never happen again. And by saying “Oh, they’re evil,” and dismissing them at that, all we’re doing is exacerbating the problem and ignoring it. There are many Hitlers in today’s world (I could name a few) just itching for their chances to seize power, and it’s only by approaching them with full understanding that we can counter them while they’re vulnerable.

Knowledge, not ignorance, is power. And as conservatives are afraid of society’s underaccepted, liberals are afraid of being eradicated, as has happened over and over throughout history under every single totalitarian regime.

I write in response to Alex Carnevale’s “Squashing Intellectual Diversity” (Sept. 5). I consider his article flawed in two major respects. First, he speaks of Professor of English William Keach’s style of tolerance, but dismisses it quickly as not being the “norm” as soon as you get to Professor of Political Science P. Terrence Hopmann’s class. This makes it apparent to me that he is not familiar with the study of statistics. One professor being a certain way does not make it so for all, or even many other professors. I have taken or am taking about 15 courses so far, and have yet to run into one of these radical debate-stifling types. So I think extending his judgment to the community is both harsh and incorrect.

Secondly, while I agree with his view that the left is the only truly vocal political wing here, what does he want to do about it? I too wish that I could get a different point of view sometimes, but you can’t make people come out and argue. Most people here are liberal, and nothing short of some wacky affirmative action is going to change that. The majority of our professors and students are bright, compassionate people who want to make the world a better place; ergo, they are liberal.

Natalie Smolenski ‘07 Sept. 5

Aaron Fritschner ‘06 Sept. 5

C O R R E C T I O N A story in Monday’s Herald incorrectly stated that Laura Rothenberg ’04 died at the age of 20. Rothenberg was 22 years old when she died in March.

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THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

OPINIONS TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 9, 2003 · PAGE 7

Bush’s go it alone approach isn’t working A quagmire worse than Vietnam awaits us if we don’t seek foreign help ARGUMENTS HAVE BEEN MADE FOR Army on top of one of the few peoples in the Bush administration to turn over at the world who have an even stronger traleast partial power in Iraq to the UN from dition of resisting and repelling foreign positions of idealism and of strengthen- occupiers than the Vietnamese. And it is often forgotten that at least at ing international organizathe beginning of America and tions and global stability.

Vietnam’s long and tortuous Considering the ideologiCHARLES FINOCCHIARO encounter, the Vietnamese cal makeup of the present actually liked us. Mostly inhabitants of the executive GUEST COLUMNIST based on their excellent workbranch, doing this does not ing relationship with the make a great deal of sense, Office of Strategic Services and it has about as much chance of being heard as, well, Colin during World War II, the Viet Minh viewed Powell. The “realists” who set American the United States as a friend and a potenforeign policy have no use for high ideals tial ally. Ho Chi Minh quoted the or international cooperation, seeing as American Declaration of Independence they are determined to treat the rest of in his Vietnamese version and offered the the world as a Hobbesian war of all United States commercial concessions against all until it becomes one. I, on the and a naval base for their support. other hand, would like to argue that General Vo Nguyen Giap called the dumping Iraq on the United Nations Vietnamese-American relationship “a would be in the interests of both the pleasant duty to dwell upon.” In the United States in general and the present Middle East, the United States has never even had that much credibility to throw administration in particular.

Many comparisons have been made away, and it has made an amazing effort between Iraq and Vietnam. I myself have to destroy whatever good will actually always thought this was a bit of a stretch. existed.

Furthermore, in Iraq, the United States In many of its long-term implications, the situation in Iraq is worse. In the first must contend with a pool of guerrillas place, the Bush administration has the and terrorists far more extensive and wonderful foresight to drop half the U.S. organized than the Viet Cong ever were.

The al-Qaida style bombings of the United Nations, the Baghdad police Charles Finocchiaro '05 is a concentrator headquarters, and the Najaf mosque are evidence that if Iraq was not an area in in (deep breath) comparative eastern/ which terrorists operated freely before, it western modern european history.

certainly is now. Whatever one says about John Ashcroft (in my opinion, our century’s answer to Oliver Cromwell, but that’s just by the way) and his policies, it seems more difficult for al-Qaida to operate in the United States. But now it doesn’t have to operate here. Whereas the Sept. 11 attacks required years of planning and hundreds of thousands of dollars, now all it takes to kill Americans is a Kalashnikov knockoff and a zealot to point it. While at this point the death toll is mounting at nowhere near the rate of Vietnam at its height, all it takes to get there is mismanagement and bad luck, and the administration has demonstrated a capacity for both. Osama bin Laden must be ecstatic.

Now that Bush’s post-Sept. 11 invincibility in the polls is beginning to recede and national security doesn’t look like such an area of strength anymore, what are the neocons to do? Despite Donald Rumsfeld’s protests to the contrary, far more troops are obviously necessary, and there isn’t anywhere to get them short of reinstating the draft, which wouldn’t exactly be popular and would be difficult, verging on impossible, for today’s professional military. (If I’m wrong, I’ll see you in Toronto.) A new resolution giving the United Nations broad powers in Iraq would help counter criticism of America in Europe and elsewhere and would possibly ease the way for the likely torturous negotiations surrounding Rumsfeld’s plan to rearrange America’s

global network of military bases.

Considering the American public has the political attention span of a mentally challenged gnat, such a resolution would likely defuse what may be a major campaign issue in 2004. If Iraq becomes a failed state, which it very well may, UN assistance or not, they can use the timetested tactic of blaming it on Kofi Annan and the French.

Furthermore, this approach has the added elegance of throwing the Europeans off balance. If they don’t take up quite a bit of the load, they look like ineffectual whiners. If they do, they can be left holding the bag. And if the United States waits much longer and things get much worse, they might do what they did during Vietnam and say they’ll sit this one out. Lastly, there’s an issue close to Dick Cheney’s cold, shriveled heart — that of money. At this point the United States has its contractors pretty well established in Iraq, and if Jacques Chirac tries to kick Kellogg, Brown and Root out of Baghdad, Bush and Co. can paint him as a calculating opportunist taking advantage of a suffering people striving to be free.

Several hours after I started writing this column, the Guardian reported the administration will enter negotiations on Iraq in the Security Council. Good for them. Some advice, guys: Go and negotiate, save some face and then give in to save your collective posterior.

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

SPORTS TUESDAY SEPTEMBER 9, 2003 · PAGE 8

Steinbrenner: the motivator?

KNOWING WHEN TO SHUT UP IS A valuable life skill, and apparently one that George Steinbrenner has yet to acquire, even as his team sits atop the AL East. However, while much has been made of Steinbrenner being a liar, meddler and intoxicating presence, George’s antics have created the most successful baseball franchise over the last 10 y e a r s .

Steinbrenner may be one of the most underrated motivators in all of JON MEACHIN baseball.

BARELY LEGAL Surprisingly, as a team, the Yanks have actually thrived this year following some of the Boss’s tirades, although several players have openly expressed their frustrations.

Steinbrenner may have the deepest pockets in all of baseball, but he’s also got the biggest mouth and the least insecurity about opening it. Apparently some players thrive on it and others don’t.

Amid the Yankees’ worst slump of the season, Steinbrenner said, “We spent a lot of money, got the people Joe (Torre) wanted. It’s his team to turn around.” Jeff Weaver, for one, got a big paycheck but absolutely fizzled under the New York spotlight and under a boss who thinks he’s bullpen-bound at best.

To further clarify his displeasure, “I’m not happy with them,” Steinbrenner said.

“We have to get straightened out. I think Joe will get us straightened out. It better happen.”

Prior to his comments, the Yankees lost 12 of 15, a terrible end to May for the squad. After his public criticism of the squad, the Yankees went 23-8 until the end of June.

Two nights ago, following two losses to the archrival Red Sox by a combined score of 20-3, Steinbrenner once again decided to let loose. “A few guys out there are making a lot of money and not producing,” he said. “A few guys need a kick in the butt to get going.”

The Yankees responded with a 3-1 defeat of the Red Sox, preventing an embarrassing sweep and winning the season series against their foes 10-9.

David Wells, who spent the week in intense arguments with pitching coach Mel Stottlemyre about being in poor shape and not working hard enough between starts, pitched seven and a third innings surrendering only one unearned run.

After closer Mariano Rivera came in and finished the ninth, Wells had his 198th career victory. “Maybe he can get in a little more trouble this week,” shortstop Derek Jeter said with a smile, “and pitch well again.”

Jeter, of course, said this in jest, but one can’t help but think that Steinbrenner patted himself on the back, watching again as his players stepped up to his public challenge. Steinbrenner has the highest expectations of any owner in baseball and, while there definitely have been player and coach tragedies left in his wake, he deserves more credit for his running of the Yankees than simply footing the bill.

Sports editor Jon Meachin ’04 hails from New York City and hopes the Yankees provide no reason for further Steinbrenner outbursts.

Selig finally getting credit for Wild Card (Newsday) — The recent slumps of Hideki

Ian Cropp / Herald

Men’s ruggers Peter Kimball ’04 and Christian Leuning ’04 lift Geoff Gillespie ’04 as he collects the line-out in practice for matches against Harvard this weekend.

M. Ruggers lose to more physical Norwich University

BY IAN CROPP

After a four-hour bus ride Saturday, the Brown men’s rugby team arrived in Northfield, Vt., ready to face off against Norwich University. The team boarded the bus later after losing two of the three matches.

From the beginning, the much larger and stronger Norwich squad pushed the Brown A side around the field, winning the majority of the scrums.

Norwich, which had the advantage of playing two matches prior to their meeting with Brown, struck first and built a considerable lead going into the end of the first half.

The second half featured a more cohesive Brown squad that had only played together in the previous week’s scrimmage against the Providence men’s club.

Coach Jay Fluck ’65 brought a new fullback and inside center to replace injured players and the Bears were able to mount several long runs. As the second half wore on, the Bears began to fatigue. When the final whistle blew, the packed Norwich crowd erupted as the squad marched off the field, defeating the Bears 45-3.

With over half the A side graduating last year, many players stepped up and made their first starting appearances on the side, including first-years. Captain Josh Brandt ’04 played with his usual tenacity and Craig Muhlrad ’04 made several nice runs at his debut as inside center.

The B side, laden with rookie forwards and a handful of returning backs, played hard from the opening kickoff.

After an impressive goal-line stand, Brown was unable to keep the wellorganized Norwich team out of the try zone. At the half, Fluck opted to test some of the rookie backs who looked to stage a comeback.

Martain Alvarez ’04 held the backfield together at fly-half, and the Bears were able to kick for points after a Norwich penalty. But much like the end of the A side game, Brown ran out of gas and Norwich pounded in two late tries, one off of a missed tackle.

In an abbreviated C-side match Brown held the advantage from the beginning and saw tries scored by Brandt and Jabari Jason Phipps ’05.

Defensively, the C side shut down the mostly fresh Norwich C side. After two 20-minute halves, Brown registered its only win of the day.

Fluck, while not too happy about the other losses, said he was pleased with the effort put out by all. “We still could use about a dozen more forwards,” Fluck said.

The Bears travel to Cambridge this weekend to play two matches against the traditionally strong Harvard squad.

Herald staff writer Ian Cropp ’05 is on the rugby team. He can be reached at icropp@browndailyherald.com.

SPORTS needs writers

Matsui and Dontrelle Willis confirm that this 2003 baseball season will not be celebrated for its newcomers. Rather, we’ll remember the shocking rises of known mediocrities.

Think Esteban Loaiza, a leading contender for the American League Cy Young Award. Think Javy Lopez, who we assumed had retired years ago.

Most of all, though, think Bud Selig.

“You have to let me enjoy myself here,” a jubilant baseball commissioner said earlier this week. Done, and done. For in his 11th full year on the job, the 69-year-old Selig suddenly looks like a visionary. Or, extraordinary lucky: The abundance of teams in contention unquestionably validates Selig’s pushing of the wild-card concept 10 years ago.

The same phenomenon might be linked to the new basic agreement, signed last year when Selig and the players avoided a work stoppage.

The twist to the All-Star Game, granting home-field advantage to the winning league, clearly added some juice to an event that had become irrelevant.

Even the Milwaukee Brewers, the team Selig sort of owns, have played well recently, providing some hope for their traumatized fans.

With three weeks left in the regular season, 17 teams have a bona fide chance to make the playoffs. Of the 15 baseball series this weekend, just one — Detroit-Toronto — has no bearing on October.

Give Bud full props for the concept of the wild card (in conjunction with the third division, which doubled the playoff teams in each league from two to four). You don’t hear anyone complaining about the watering down of baseball’s playoff system because the postseason doesn’t feel watered down. This year, at least one American League team out of the Yankees, Boston, Oakland and Seattle won’t make it into October. So the bar is still set high enough, so many more cities still care about baseball. This year’s National League wild-card race is incredible.

“This is what we strove to do,” Selig said.

“We didn’t want to give up September.”

How much this September has to do with Aug. 30, 2002, when the owners and players signed off on a new collective-bargaining agreement, can’t be determined as easily. Even Selig spoke with caution on this topic, saying, “We need more time” as he expressed his belief that yes, there was a connection. He also mentioned the importance of the revenue sharing that has taken place since 1996.

Don Fehr, executive director of the Major League Baseball Players Association, said: “I am not one of those who attributes causation very quickly. Is it a coincidence? The Angels did win last year. So did the Twins.

It’s very difficult to make any judgment about effects of a CBA until you get into it.”

From a pure mathematical standpoint, we agree. But emotionally, we see how the Kansas City Royals took on about $1 million in late-season salaries, and we wonder whether Royals owner David Glass (a notorious cheapskate) felt pressure to spend some of that money he receives under the new CBA. We wonder the same thing with the Florida Marlins, who went for it and took on salary while most of us thought they should be in a dumping mode.

And we see how the Yankees, spending so very much more than every other team, see SELIG, page 4